Timberline chosen to participate in national pilot program to improve healthcare

By Barb Boyer Buck

Trail-Gazette

Posted:
10/17/2013 12:30:54 PM MDT

Frequency of emergency room visits and the cost of emergency care led to the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative (CPCI): a nationwide demonstration project designed to "harness the power of modern technology and better fulfill the principals of family medicine," said Paul Fonken, MD, medical director of Timberline Medical of Estes Park. Timberline is the only practice in Estes Park and one of only 73 practices in Colorado (representing 335 physicians) selected to participate in this program. Colorado is one of seven states to be included in this program which also seeks to "improve the quality of care while reducing health care costs," Fonken said.

The initiative seeks to change the paradigm of patients seeking health care only in emergencies by concentrating on primary care and increased communication between health care providers, their support teams, and their patients.

"We want to encourage patients to see their primary care physician more - and visit the emergency room less," said Fonken. For example, chronically ill patients can be tracked through Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to be reminded to visit their primary care physicians every three months, said Fonken. Additional funding provided through this program has allowed for each physician's assistant to spend approximately four hours week on continuing care, said Bruce Carmichael, Practice Administrator, which may include helping patients manage medications, help patients seek funding assistance, and to check on patients who haven't been seen in while.

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"This was especially useful during the flood," Fonken said, "we have a number of high-risk patients who we knew lived in areas that were flooded and they were displaced."

"We were able to reach out to them to make arrangements for them to get their medications and care."

As a part of this demonstration program, participating practices will provide valuable reports on the outcome of improved patient care practices; those results could ultimately lead to changes in health care recommendations nationwide.

"This is a triple win," said Fonken, "Patients will receive better care, the care will cost less, and the providers can provide the best quality care to the right patient every time."

Fonken, who has been with the clinic since 1990, said that it is also more satisfying for the health care provider. "We (doctors) went into this field because we want to help people," he said; this initiative will allow his practice to better do that by concentrating on the individual patient's preventative care, as well as treatment of disease.

Fonken spent eight years in Kyrgyzstan, shortly after that country gained its independence from the USSR, introducing the concepts of family medicine while improving quality and decreasing costs. "They had one MRI in the whole country and could spend $4 per person per year (on health care)," he said.

Carmichael has been with Timberline for five years and has previous experience in the health insurance industry. "Humana, in the Chicago market, has always been looking at disease management," he said.

Timberline Medical qualified for participation in CPCI by demonstrating the ability to produce a variety of reports through a meaningful use of EHRs; and, by showing an active involvement in practice improvement, said Fonken. Timberline has achieved the highest level of Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) certification - a standard set by the National Committee of Quality Assurance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality, said Carmichael.

"The PCMH concept focuses on improving the coordination of care for patients through the use of proven clinical guidelines which integrate health information technology ... (and also allows) patients to communicate electronically with his or her health care provider," said Carmichael in a thank-you letter sent to new patients.